May 17, 2011 New York, New Jersey Lead Nation in Property Tax Burden Nick Kasprak Nick Kasprak Print this page Subscribe Support our work Download Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 269: New York, New Jersey Lead Nation in Property Tax Burden Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 269 New Five-Year American Community Survey Data Includes All Counties in U.S. Introduction For some time now, the Tax Foundation has published median property tax statistics for counties in the United States. These statistics are based on data from the American Community Survey. Previously, data limitations meant that only mid- to high-population counties could be included in the rankings. Now, for the first time, we are pleased to present data that includes nearly all counties in the United States. We rank counties three different ways: by median property taxes paid on homes, by median property taxes as a percentage of median home values, and by median property taxes as a percentage of median household income. The Census Bureau recently released American Community Survey data as a five-year average, from 2005 to 2009. The larger number of survey responses and correspondingly larger sample sizes included in this five-year period allows estimates to be calculated for every county (or county-level entity) in the United States. Previously, these data releases were limited to one-year or three-year averages, and the lower sample sizes for these releases meant that only mid- to high-population counties were included. Our data release includes nearly all 3,139 counties in the United States. We excluded 217 counties from our rankings because of their unreliably small sample size, for a final universe of 2,922 counties. Hunterdon County, New Jersey ranks first for median property taxes. For median property taxes as a percentage of median home value, Orleans County, New York takes the top spot, and all of the top ten counties for this statistic are in upstate New York. Finally, the No. 1 county for median property taxes as a percentage of median household income is Passaic County, New Jersey. We summarize the top and bottom 10 counties for each ranking below. Table 1: Median Property Taxes Paid on Homes, 2005-2009 – Top Counties Source: U.S. Census Bureau State County Median Property Taxes Paid on Homes Rank (out of 2922) New Jersey Hunterdon County $8,216 +/- 114 1 New York Nassau County $8,206 +/- 34 2 New York Westchester County $8,160 +/- 86 3 New Jersey Bergen County $7,925 +/- 45 4 New York Rockland County $7,676 +/- 85 5 New Jersey Essex County $7,489 +/- 79 6 New Jersey Somerset County $7,421 +/- 58 7 New Jersey Morris County $7,298 +/- 39 8 New Jersey Union County $7,075 +/- 52 9 New Jersey Passaic County $7,055 +/- 54 10 Table 2: Median Property Taxes Paid on Homes, 2005-2009 – Bottom Counties Source: U.S. Census Bureau State County Median Property Taxes Paid on Homes Rank (out of 2922) Louisiana Caldwell Parish $115 +/- 4 2913 Louisiana Red River Parish $115 +/- 4 2913 Louisiana Winn Parish $114 +/- 4 2915 Louisiana Bienville Parish $112 +/- 3 2916 Alaska Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area $111 +/- 3 2917 Alaska Southeast Fairbanks Census Area $109 +/- 5 2918 Louisiana Tensas Parish $109 +/- 4 2918 Alaska Aleutians East Borough $108 +/- 8 2920 Alaska Northwest Arctic Borough $108 +/- 4 2920 Alaska Bethel Census Area $105 +/- 3 2922 Table 3: Property Taxes as a Percentage of Home Value, 2005-2009 – Top Counties Source: U.S. Census Bureau State County Median Property Taxes Paid on Homes Median Home Value Taxes as a Percentage of Home Value Rank (out of 2922) New York Orleans County $2,578 +/- 82 $84,600 +/- 1,744 3.05 +/- 0.12% 1 New York Niagara County $2,722 +/- 39 $94,900 +/- 1,482 2.87 +/- 0.06% 2 New York Monroe County $3,565 +/- 27 $126,700 +/- 1,064 2.81 +/- 0.03% 3 New York Allegany County $1,804 +/- 50 $65,100 +/- 1,552 2.77 +/- 0.10% 4 New York Montgomery County $2,502 +/- 86 $91,900 +/- 2,480 2.72 +/- 0.12% 5 New York Wayne County $2,864 +/- 68 $105,400 +/- 2,245 2.72 +/- 0.09% 6 New York Cortland County $2,450 +/- 64 $91,200 +/- 2,192 2.69 +/- 0.10% 7 New York Genesee County $2,626 +/- 65 $98,200 +/- 1,616 2.67 +/- 0.08% 8 New York Chautauqua County $2,019 +/- 56 $77,800 +/- 1,527 2.60 +/- 0.09% 9 New York Livingston County $2,810 +/- 90 $110,400 +/- 2,385 2.55 +/- 0.10% 10 Table 4: Property Taxes as a Percentage of Home Value, 2005-2009 – Bottom Counties Source: U.S. Census Bureau State County Median Property Taxes Paid on Homes Median Home Value Taxes as a Percentage of Home Value Rank (out of 2922) Alaska Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area $111 +/- 3 $89,900 +/- 8,479 0.12 +/- 0.01% 2913 Louisiana St. John the Baptist Parish $171 +/- 8 $139,000 +/- 4,296 0.12 +/- 0.01% 2914 Alaska North Slope Borough $159 +/- 21 $143,400 +/- 16,960 0.11 +/- 0.02% 2915 Alaska Dillingham Census Area $170 +/- 15 $171,900 +/- 13,390 0.10 +/- 0.01% 2916 Alaska Aleutians East Borough $108 +/- 8 $122,100 +/- 17,484 0.09 +/- 0.01% 2917 Alaska Bethel Census Area $105 +/- 3 $119,200 +/- 8,444 0.09 +/- 0.01% 2918 Alaska Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area $119 +/- 7 $144,000 +/- 24,960 0.08 +/- 0.02% 2919 Alaska Northwest Arctic Borough $108 +/- 4 $132,100 +/- 7,813 0.08 +/- 0.01% 2920 Alaska Hoonah-Angoon Census Area $116 +/- 7 $169,000 +/- 22,840 0.07 +/- 0.01% 2921 Alaska Southeast Fairbanks Census Area $109 +/- 5 $159,300 +/- 10,901 0.07 +/- 0.01% 2922 Table 5: Property Taxes as a Percentage of Household Income, 2005-2009 – Top Counties Source: U.S. Census Bureau State County Median Property Taxes Paid on Homes Median Household Income Taxes as a Percentage of Household Income Rank (out of 2922) New Jersey Passaic County $7,055 +/- 54 $83,591 +/- 1,614 8.44 +/- 0.18% 1 New Jersey Essex County $7,489 +/- 79 $93,107 +/- 1,428 8.04 +/- 0.15% 2 New York Nassau County $8,206 +/- 34 $102,920 +/- 763 7.97 +/- 0.07% 3 New Jersey Bergen County $7,925 +/- 45 $101,388 +/- 917 7.82 +/- 0.08% 4 New Jersey Union County $7,075 +/- 52 $90,538 +/- 1,497 7.81 +/- 0.14% 5 New York Rockland County $7,676 +/- 85 $101,833 +/- 1,901 7.54 +/- 0.16% 6 New York Westchester County $8,160 +/- 86 $111,129 +/- 1,293 7.34 +/- 0.12% 7 New Jersey Hunterdon County $8,216 +/- 114 $112,474 +/- 2,133 7.30 +/- 0.17% 8 New Jersey Hudson County $6,085 +/- 68 $83,561 +/- 1,793 7.28 +/- 0.18% 9 New York Suffolk County $6,779 +/- 28 $93,629 +/- 812 7.24 +/- 0.07% 10 Table 6: Property Taxes as a Percentage of Household Income, 2005-2009 – Bottom Counties Source: U.S. Census Bureau State County Median Property Taxes Paid on Homes Median Household Income Taxes as a Percentage of Household Income Rank (out of 2922) Louisiana Assumption Parish $123 +/- 5 $47,598 +/- 4,337 0.26 +/- 0.03% 2913 Louisiana Vernon Parish $119 +/- 2 $46,967 +/- 1,623 0.25 +/- 0.01% 2914 Alaska Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area $119 +/- 7 $47,238 +/- 3,772 0.25 +/- 0.02% 2915 Louisiana Cameron Parish $147 +/- 20 $59,720 +/- 7,414 0.25 +/- 0.05% 2916 Alaska Dillingham Census Area $170 +/- 15 $71,500 +/- 14,105 0.24 +/- 0.05% 2917 Alaska North Slope Borough $159 +/- 21 $80,906 +/- 12,385 0.20 +/- 0.04% 2918 Alaska Northwest Arctic Borough $108 +/- 4 $56,328 +/- 4,947 0.19 +/- 0.02% 2919 Alaska Bethel Census Area $105 +/- 3 $54,875 +/- 4,614 0.19 +/- 0.02% 2920 Alaska Southeast Fairbanks Census Area $109 +/- 5 $58,464 +/- 4,005 0.19 +/- 0.02% 2921 Alaska Aleutians East Borough $108 +/- 8 $61,607 +/- 10,840 0.18 +/- 0.03% 2922 Methodology The figures in these tables are for property taxes paid by households on owner-occupied housing. As a result, they exclude property taxes paid by businesses, renters, and others. We use three specific tables from the 2005-2009 ACS release. These are: B25103 Mortgage Status by Median Real Estate Taxes Paid Cell 1 (Total) B25099 Mortgage Status by Median Household Income in the Past 12 Months Cell 1 (Total) B25107 Median Value by Year Structure Built Cell 1 (Total) In each table, the ACS data release includes an estimate and a margin of error for each county, which we include here[i]. We excluded any county in which the margin of error for any table entry was more than 20% of the estimate value. An additional four counties were excluded for other reasons[ii]. [i] The uncertainty for derived columns (taxes as percentages of home value and household income) is calculated according to the formula [ii] Denali Borough and Wade Hampton Census Area in Alaska, as well as Kalawao County in Hawaii, lacked even an estimate for property taxes paid. Nantucket County in Massachusetts was excluded because its estimate for median home value exceeded $1 million and was replaced with a jam value for privacy reasons. Topics Center for State Tax Policy Property Taxes Research
